Key Takeaways:
- Layering complementary scents using high-quality candles creates a curated, hotel-like atmosphere in your home.
- Thoughtful maintenance, like an updated laundry routine and proper ventilation, can help keep your home smelling fresh and refined.
That feeling of stepping into a hotel? One of the most underrated parts of that experience is scent.
That clean, calming smell you notice does a lot of heavy lifting, and you don’t need a reservation to bring it home. With a few simple upgrades, you can make everyday feel a little more like a getaway.
How Can You Make Your House Smell Like a Hotel?
The trick to making your place smell like a hotel is layering scents that feel clean and work well together. You want that sweet spot where it’s warm, polished, and never overpowering, then you carry it through the whole space in a way that feels effortless.
Here are some tips to get you started.
Incorporate Luxury Candles
You’ll rarely find a lavish hotel without candles to match. Candles are a signature touch that adds both scent and sophistication.
Bring in a few elevated candles and put them where they’ll actually make an impact, like bedrooms, bathrooms, and the main hangout zones. Swap them out seasonally to keep things feeling fresh and intentionally curated, like your home has its own scent wardrobe.
Looking for some new picks? Try Snif’s non-toxic, vegan, Conscious Beauty Certified candle collection
Here are a few of our most hotel-worthy options:
- Off the Grid: Off the Grid gives you permission to ignore the group chat. It’s calm, cozy, and quietly addictive, blending amber and lily with soft musk and smooth sandalwood for a warm, soothing burn.
- Instant Karma: This candle is dark and dreamy, with cardamom, cinnamon, vetiver nashi pear, black plum, cedarwood, and black tea.
- Sweet Ash: Sweet Ash is the candle version of our bestseller. It starts warm and inviting with vanilla and tonka, then gets interesting with earthy juniper, fir balsam, and white moss for a low-key sweet, woody burn.
- Way With Woods: Way With Woods is your “I love nature” scent, just from indoors. It blends crisp white tea and mandarin with cozy sandalwood and amber woods, then finishes with vetiver and a slightly sweet, earthy musk.
- Birds And The Breeze: Birds and the Breeze is light and airy with mimosa petals and jasmine up front, a green earthy hit of galbanum, then soft musk and cedarwood that make your whole place feel fresh, polished, and quietly coastal.
- Vow Factor: Vow Factor is green and fig-forward, with juicy fig and airy neroli up top, soft rose in the middle, then a smooth cedarwood finish warmed up with tonka bean and ambrette seeds.
Open Windows
Good airflow is the secret sauce to a home that always smells fresh. Open windows on opposite ends of your space for five to 10 minutes a day to get a cross-breeze going. It helps push out humidity, pollutants, and stale air so odors do not get the chance to settle in.
If you want it to feel extra hotel-level, add an air purifier. It keeps the whole place feeling clean and fresh all day.
Upgrade Your Laundry Routine
Freshly laundered linens are basically the signature scent of a hotel room. If you want that at home, upgrade your laundry routine with products that leave a subtle, long-lasting aroma that smells clean, not shouty.
Our Laundry Collection gives you a bunch of fragrance options in two simple steps with our Everything Wash detergent and Liquid Scent Booster. Both are non-toxic, non-irritating, high-performing, and safe on fabrics.
When your bedding is not in use, store it neatly in drawers or closets. To help the scent stick around, tuck a baking soda sachet, a soap bar, or a small bottle of essential oil in the drawer with it.
Choose Complementary Home Scents
When scent mapping your home, avoid strong, clashing smells. The goal is to go for subtle, cohesive fragrances that complement one another. For example, the Scent Booster you use on your linens should accent the candle you have lit on your bedside table.
Freshen With Baking Soda
Hotels stay smelling clean all day, and recreating that at home can be tough without a cleaning staff. Baking soda helps, working as a simple, natural way to absorb unwanted odors. Instead of covering smells, baking soda helps neutralize them and can also absorb moisture and odor-causing particles.
For carpets and rugs, sprinkle baking soda over the surface, let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes, then vacuum. Place small bowls of baking soda in enclosed spaces like closets to help keep the scent neutral. If your trash can holds onto smells, sprinkle baking soda directly into the bin.
Time for Check-In
From crisp, ventilated air to the scent of a luxurious candle and clean sheets, every detail in your home contributes to creating the ambiance of your dreams. With a few simple tweaks, your home can smell like a five-star retreat in no time at all.
FAQs
How can I get my home to smell like a hotel?
To get your home smelling like a hotel, incorporate luxury candles, practice cross-ventilation, upgrade your laundry routine, choose complementary home scents, and freshen up spaces with baking soda.
What do hotels use to make it smell good?
Hotels use a combination of scented candles, room sprays, linen sprays, air diffusers, air fresheners, cleaning products, essential oils, and ventilation to create and maintain their good smell.
Sources:
The scent of Life: The exquisite complexity of the sense of smell in animals and humans | PMC
A literature review of cross ventilation in buildings | ScienceDirect